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Wednesday, February 6, 2013

Sivamanasapuja - Sankara Bhagavatpada

Sivamanasapuja

Sri Sankara Bhagavatpada

(Translated by S.N.Sastri)

Shiva Manas Puja, written by Adi guru Shankaracharya is a very special hymn, which not only praises Shiva, but also depicts the true flavour of Shiva worship. Shiva needs devotion and not demonstration. In this stottram we offer to the great Lord various offering not in physical form but in mental form. We Start by offering bath, cloths, foods, devotion and finally offer ourselves to the Lord. The beauty lies in the fact that everything we offer, we offer in the portal of our mind and not physical. The compassionate Mahadev accepts all our offering and frees us from the consequences of our wrong doings, done knowingly or unknowingly.

1. O Lord, O abode of compassion, O Pasupati, deign to acceptmy mental offerings of a gem-studded seat, a bath with coolwater, divine garments inlaid with precious stones, sandalpaste scented with musk, a garland made of jasmine,champaka flowers and bilva leaves, incense, and the waving of lights.

2. O Lord, be gracious enough to accept rice cooked in milkwith ghee and sweetened, placed in a golden vessel set withgems, five varieties of eatables with milk and curd, ripeplantains, juices, many varieties of cooked leafy vegetables,sweet water flavoured with edible camphor, and betel leavesand nuts, all of which I offer mentally to You.

3. O Lord, be so kind as to accept my worship offered mentally with an umbrella, two chaamaras, a fan, a clean mirror,playing of musical instruments such as veena, beating of various kinds of drums, songs and dance, prostration with theeight limbs, and various hymns of praise.Note. The eight limbs of prostration (sashtanga namaskara)are the hands, legs, knees, chest, head, eyes, mind andspeech.

4. O Sambhu, You are my Self, my intellect is Goddess Parvati, your attendants are my vital airs, my body is Your temple, allenjoyments of sense-objects are Your worship, my sleep issamadhi, all my movements on my feet are circumambulationsof You, whatever I speak is praise of You, and thus whateveraction I perform is Your worship.Note. When a devotee totally surrenders himself to God, thenwhatever he does is according to God’s will. He gives up allsense of being a doer and an enjoyer.

5. Whatever wrongs I may have committed with my hands,feet, speech, body, ears, eyes, or mind, in any action whetherprescribed (by the scriptures) or not, deign to forgive all of them. O Ocean of compassion, O Mahadeva, O Sambhu. Hailunto you.